June 19, 2012

Love this vintage...

Lace blouse from new shop find Fun Retro Threads.  I can totally see a refashion of this piece to a nice open boat neckline....or even perhaps a few more pretty coin purses? ;)

lace blouse
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Have you had any vintage finds lately?



June 18, 2012

Our weekend.

I am pleased to announce that we are all healthy!  And I'm so thankful for that after a couple of rotten weeks of sickness.  We had a nice weekend of catching up on sleep (thanks to my fabulous husband), a bit of relaxation, cosying up in the wet weather and then getting on top of some housey stuff.  I got my new etsy "about" page finished.  I really like how the new format looks - what do you think?  Etsy are making some nice improvements of late.
Weekend snaps

Weekend snaps


Weekend snaps

Weekend snaps

How was your weekend?

June 14, 2012

A tale of two Tovas

Just to fill you in on my mentioned Wiksten Tova dramas from a few weeks ago....

Along with everyone else, I've had my eye on this pattern for ages, and have had the pdf sitting on my computer for a while, as I looked for the right fabric.

I found it, some lovely floral cotton lawn on sale so I headed straight into the making - measuring, cutting, sewing up a storm.   One problem.  When I tried it on it was a tad tight across the bust/back.  Hmmm.  I kept sewing thinking I could get away with it once I had completed it.  Once the arms were in it was impossible to get on.  And I mean impossible.   I really didn't think my size had grown that much since giving birth to V but obviously it has, and even more to the point, I clearly can't measure myself very well.  To say I was disappointed is an understatement, boo hoo for me, I was so pumped to finish and wear this one.

So I attempted the next size up in a heavier thrifted fabric I didn't care about.  I was like a sweat shop getting it done in a day or so, and when complete, it too was a little tight across the chest, back and armholes.  Sigh.  Although this one is wearable, it's not my preferred fabric, and I'm thinking for my third try I'll do a little pattern alteration - I think the reality is that at the moment I'm a small size across the shoulders and a couple of sizes up around the bustline, so here's hoping i can get it right third try!  I found a couple of ideas here and here for altering the bust, so might try that.

Wiksten Tova 2

I must also say that on wearing, the sleeves annoy me a bit too.  The armholes feel tight and cuffs are quite restrictive on me when I bend my elbow - I think that if I lengthened them a little they may feel better as then they wouldn't sit into my elbow crease quite so much.

Both times I lengthened my shirt by about 1.5 inches as I'm quite long in the torso.  I'm happy with how it sits on me around the hips and waist.

Wiksten Tova 1

But on the whole even though the Jury's out on the fit for me, I really like the way this pattern looks so I'm determined to make one that fits properly...not sure if I'll succeed just yet.  Watch this space.

[Ps. This post is a little late. If I thought I'd had a rough week with child sickness last week, I wasn't prepared for what was to come over the long weekend  - we ended up in Emergency at the Children's hospital twice with Miss 4 months....yep, Bronchiolitis is the pits.  It really is. ]


More creative spaces here.

June 7, 2012

10 minutes.

Not much going on here since the weekend.  After a weekend of Tova dramas (more on that later) sick sick sickie kids is all I've been doing through the week - exhausting.  I've managed to steal about 10 minutes a few nights in a row to start using up stashed yarn before I nod off early due to lack of sleep.  Sick kidlets are no fun, that's for sure.  And it's our second round in a month. 

DSC_7488b

I hope your creative space has been a little more healthy!  
Joining in with the fun here.